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New York is For Cream Puffs (I mean that in the nicest possible way)
Did I Miss an Important Trend?
Food critics and writers all over town have made note of the recent resurgence in the popularity of the cream puff, a confectionary bomb of richness and pleasure. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the cream puff, here are some tasty tidbits. First, like many other varieties of creamy goodness, the cream puff begins its life with a shell of choux pastry. Choux pastry is light-ish, crispy, butter-based pastry dough not for faint of heart, or for those on a cholesterol-restricted diet. For the rest of us, it is a tasty treat.
A good cream puff requires a few basic items. First the choux pastry – then cream. Real cream. The mostly fat kind. Whipped up fluffy-like and installed in a rounded choux pastry delight. Some connoisseurs like the cream a la nature, but others like to have a little confectionary sugar added.
The shape of the cream puff, as opposed to the more tubular profiterole or the fat cream horn, is gently round. While the profiterole and cream horn are good, the cream puff is a lighter, airier experience.
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Nostalgia
My mother used to be addicted to cream horns, which she purchased in bulk and stashed in the kitchen so that she could eat them on the sly. The kind she bought were not normally the better quality butter-based and crème patissier horns, but a
dumbed-down version available in super markets.
Over the years, it has become more and more difficult to find a good cream horn, never mind a delicate cream puff. But these horns of goodness always send her into a semi-narcotic state. It is fun to watch someone enjoy a treat to such an extent.
Why the Sudden Resurgence in the Cream Puff?
Well, as comfort food climbs continually upscale (hipster haunt DuMont on Union in Willy B has a maitre d’ now), old favorites from old cookbooks and menus are making their own comebacks.
First popularized in the 1960’s by food-maven Julia Child and fashion-maven Jaqueline Kennedy, the cream puff was all the rage among gourmands and foodies-in-waiting. Now, it is Japan we look to for new interpretations of our old favorites.
And now that we are fearless about milk fats, we dare to explore the lactic choices. What better than cream served in a buttery wrapper?
Here are some New York City haunts serving up cream puffs:
Beard Papa Sweets Café (several locations)
Choux Factory, 865 1st Avenue between 48th
and 49th Streets
Puff & Pao, 105 Christopher St.,
near Bleecker, 212-633-7833
Tags:
cream puffs, fat, foodie, julia child, trends
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Posted on 2/22/2006
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